Online grooming film tells story of murdered 14-year-old gamer
Breck Bednar was stabbed to death by computer engineer Lewis Daynes in Grays, Essex, in February 2014.
The mother of murdered 14-year-old Breck Bednar, whose killer groomed him through an online gaming community, will appear in a film to be shown in secondary schools to highlight the dangers of online grooming.
Breck was stabbed to death by computer engineer Lewis Daynes in Grays, Essex, in February 2014 in what a judge described as a “sexual and sadistic” killing.
Daynes, aged 18 at the time of the offence, admitted the murder at Chelmsford Crown Court and was jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years in 2015.
The film, which features the 999 call made to police by Daynes, captures the events leading to Breck’s death and police said it would carry a 15 certificate if shown in a cinema.
It will be shown at schools in the counties of the four police forces as part of planned lessons over the coming months.
Ms LaFave said: “Breck’s story shows how easily grooming can happen.
“He met the predator through an online friendship group and would have been flattered to have an intelligent, older mentor helping him expand his gaming skills.
“At the time, I believed the offender was older than he was because he was so controlling and manipulative, even with me, so it’s important for young people to realise not only can predators lie about their age, where they live or who they are online, they can also be a similar age to the victim.
“They are not always the stereotypical ‘creepy old guy’.
“It’s so important for us to raise awareness of the fact that boys can be groomed too.
“Breck’s murder came after international media coverage surrounding the Rochdale and Rotherham cases, where the victims were all girls.
“His version wasn’t the ‘typical’ type of grooming people had heard about in the news.
“His story shows even regular school boys can make mistakes if they aren’t educated to recognise the signs of grooming and exploitation.”
